RPI hires former FCS head coach

Tim Landis has coached extensively at the Division
I-AA/FCS level, though mostly at non-scholarship programs.RPI photo by Amie Canfield

RPI athletic director Jim Knowlton announced the hiring of Tim
Landis as head football coach, bringing to the program significant
coaching experience at the Division I FCS and FBS levels. A former
head coach at Davidson, St. Mary’s (Calif.), and Bucknell,
all FCS institutions (formerly known as I-AA), Landis most recently
served as the offensive coordinator at Division I FBS San Jose
State.

Landis said: “It is a great honor to be named the head
football coach at Rensselaer and to have the opportunity to take
over such a highly successful program that Coach King built over
the past 22 years. Returning to an institution that has such
outstanding academic and athletic success is a perfect combination
for me and my family at this stage of my career.”

“I am confident that Tim Landis will continue the proud
tradition of Rensselaer football and add to our prominence as a
leading football program,” said President Shirley Ann
Jackson. “His experience with the caliber of institutions in
his background leads him to have a thorough understanding of the
importance of the education that our young people are here to
acquire, and the importance of developing the mind, body, and
spirit. I also know he appreciates the winning tradition of
Rensselaer athletics.”

“We are excited to add Tim to our RPI Athletics
family,” said Knowlton. “He brings an incredibly
diverse coaching resume and will help us continue to the raise the
bar for our football program.”

While at San Jose State, where he also coached tight ends and
assisted with special teams, Landis helped the Spartans face the
likes of Alabama, Wisconsin and Boise State, among their other
Western Athletic Conference opponents.

Landis joined the San Jose State staff after serving as a head
coach at three Football Championship Subdivision schools for the
previous 17 seasons.

He guided Bucknell from 2003 to 2009, leading the Bison to a .500
or better record three times and compiling a 32-46 record. His
teams were among the best FCS schools in rushing offense, finishing
in the top 10 in 2003, 2004, and 2006. The 2003 (6-6) and 2004
(7-4) teams both finished in third place in the Patriot League.

Among the student-athletes Landis coached at Bucknell was former
NFL standout Sean Conover as well as National Academic All-Americas
Justin Gibson and David Frisbey. Landis enjoyed similar
success at St. Mary’s, as his teams had better than .500
records in each of his three seasons (2000-02). The 2000 squad
finished fourth in the FCS in rushing offense (309.5 yards per
game) and the Gaels broke numerous school offensive records. With a
6-5 record in 2001 and 6-6 in 2002, Landis was named the Division
I-AA Independent Coach of the Year.

He began his collegiate head coaching career at Davidson, starting
in 1993 when he was one of the youngest Division I head coaches at
age 29. He helped turn the Wildcats around, guiding the team to
school single season records of eight wins in 1998 (8-2) and again
in 1999 (8-3), his final year. Four of his teams finished with a
better than .500 winning percentage as he compiled a record of
35-36-1. His overall collegiate head coaching record is
85-98-1.

In his final season at Davidson, the defense led the nation with a
school-record 28 interceptions. Landis' special teams unit blocked
a FCS (then Division I-AA) record 13 kicks in 1999, and the defense
allowed only 101 rushing yards per game to rank 13th in the
nation.

A native of Yardley, Pa., and a 1982 graduate of The Hun School in
Princeton, N.J., Landis earned a bachelor of arts degree in English
from Randolph-Macon in 1986. An All-Old Dominion Athletic
Conference First Team honoree both as a quarterback in football and
a pitcher in baseball, Landis was inducted into the Randolph-Macon
Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. He was the ODAC Baseball Player of
the Year in 1986, and he also earned the school's Compton Award for
excellence in academics and athletics. In May 2002, he was inducted
into The Hun School's Hall of Fame.

His first coaching position was a one-year stint at Randolph-Macon,
mentoring the wide receivers in 1986.

In 1988, he began a three-year tenure as head football and baseball
coach at Morrisville High School in the suburban Philadelphia area,
where he led the football team to an 8-2 record and a state ranking
while capturing numerous coach of the year honors. He also guided
the baseball team to a conference championship. During his final
two years at the school, he also served as athletics director.

Landis returned to the collegiate level in 1991, when he was hired
as the defensive line coach at Davidson.